Onyx Collective of the New York Jazz Hype of the Hour releases its long-awaited debut album on Big Dada! Onyx Collective consists of bandleader and alto/tenor saxophonist Isiah Barr, Austin Williamson on drums, Walter Stinson on double bass, Spencer Murphy on electric bass, and Roy Nathanson as guest saxophonist on four tracks. A loose group of different, currently important New York musicians, who repeatedly cross the paths of jazz and like to be on stage (among them Nick Hakim, Princess Nokia, Dev Hynes (Blood Orange), Wiki (Ratking), Julian Soto and Felix Pastorius), completes the Onyx universe. While earlier projects of the Onyx Collective tried to capture the romantic facets of New York, their album entitled "Lower East Suite Part Three" has a much more ominous sound that reflects the dissonance that a life in the city brings. After they had to move out of their longtime rehearsal room/studio due to the drastically rising property market in the Big Apple, the Onyx Collective has now moved its headquarters to the Magic Gallery on Market St., which is located in a dark corner of Chinatown on the East River. The band is known for their spontaneous concerts, which can take place in chic clubs as well as in run-down DIY centres. A remarkable manic energy flows through her classical musical training, so that one can feel like at a punk concert at one of her concerts. The artwork for all three "Lower East Suite" releases comes from the world-famous New York artist and director Julian Schnabel, who also handwrote the tracklist on the back of the album
